Adventures in Asia

Oh, how times have changed. I once only watched Korean dramas, content with the innocent modern romance of witty bickering, occasional wrist grabbing, and oh-so-sweet back hugs. Everything I had heard about Chinese dramas was negative: they're dozens of episodes long, poorly written with little plot movement, pretty actors who can't really act, etc. But in the last few months, everything changed. I've fallen for Chinese fantasy dramas. The Untamed , a low-budget BL drama based on an online novel that has become incredibly popular in China and abroad But I have not succumbed to this new genre without assistance! As it turns out, the magical norms of Lord of the Rings / Narnia / Harry Potter do not apply to Chinese fantasy, and while watching some new shows I was often confused -- and not by the translation. My Chinese husband had to explain a lot in the beginning, and I am here to tell you the secrets... How Heroes get their Magic (or, Who are Cultivators and what in the wo...

I did it. I finally watched a TV show from the country I actually live in, instead of one from South Korea. On viki.com, I stumbled upon “One and a Half Summer,” which proved to be light, fluffy, and rather boring. But, I did learn about Chinese language and culture! So it wasn’t a waste. “One and a Half Summer” is a Chinese show, but it has ties to Korea via kpop. One of the lead actors is Nichkhun, a member of kpop boy group 2PM, and a side character is played by Jia of Miss A. At first I was like “Wow! So many Koreans in this show!” until I realized that neither Nichkhun nor Jia are ethnically Korean. Jia is Chinese, and Nicky is… uh… Thai? Chinese? American? According to Wikipedia , he’s lived all over the world, but didn’t make it to Korea until the kpop machine found him and shipped him over. I’m pretty sure he didn’t even speak Mandarin when filming this drama, but more on that later. As for the plot, not a lot happened. Mostly the drama centers on a group of friend...